Lucky numbers

MONTREAL – Less than a week after joining the Canadiens family, Mike Cammalleri and Scott Gomez have already made a few tough decisions, including choosing the numbers they plan to make famous here in Montreal.

After almost 80 years on the shelf, lucky No. 13 will see action again for the second straight season. Alex Tanguay dusted off the cobwebs in 2008-09, foregoing superstition to don the folkloric number. Prior to Tanguay, Edmond Bouchard and Billy Boucher were the last Canadiens players to break with tradition, sporting No. 13 in 1921-22. Speedster Mike Cammalleri, the fifth Hab to wear the number in team history, will be bringing lucky back when he suits up in his new sweater for the first time this fall. Far from spooked about the prospect of breaking mirrors or walking under ladders, Cammalleri has worn 13 throughout his six-year NHL career with the Flames and Kings, during his time in the AHL with Manchester as well as during his days at the University of Michigan.

When it comes to Gomez’s jersey selection on the other hand, the Habs’ latest acquisition is a victim of the franchise’s storied history thanks to the exploits of his new GM Bob Gainey and former coach Larry Robinson. With the No. 23 he popularized with the New Jersey Devils currently joining the No. 19 he wore with the Rangers in the Bell Centre rafters, Gomez had to search a little harder to find a suitable number here in his new NHL home. Inverting his previous digits, Gomez has settled on No. 91, becoming the first Hab to ever don the number. There are now just 11 numbers remaining that have never been worn in the first 100 years in Canadiens history.

The three other newcomers, Hal Gill, Brian Gionta and Jaroslav Spacek have yet to decide which digits will suit their new bleu-blanc-rouge sweaters the best this year.